Peter Knupfer

Welcome, web traveler, to my History Department web HQ. I earned my B.S. (Secondary Education/Social Studies, 1976), MA and PhD (History, 1981, 1989) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I studied under Richard Sewell. My scholarly research has focused on the sectional crisis and American political culture and behavior during the Civil War era; my first book, The Union As It Is: Constitutional Unionism and Sectional Compromise, 1787-1861, examines the civic tradition of grand compromises over morally and economically intractable issues in the early republic. I have since studied the late antebellum activities of Unionists and conservatives, with contributions to anthologies by Paul Finkelman and David Blight. I am completing a volume, “The Civil War Era: America’s Defining Moment,” in the Issues and Controversies in American History Series from Facts on File/Palgrave MacMillan, edited by Ballard Campbell. I also have pursued career interests in public history, cultural heritage, history education, and digital humanities. As the executive director of H-Net, I help to administer the largest online scholarly community in the social sciences and humanities and continue to serve as an editor of H-SHEAR, our network on the early republic. My interest in history education has encompassed participation in a series of Teaching American History grant programs, plus a recent chapter about postsecondary history teaching in Kelly Woestman and Rachel Ragland’s anthology on TAH; I am currently studying history education and pedagogy in the nineteenth century, with particular interest in the work of Emma Willard and Marcius Willson, prolific authors of schoolbooks in history, civics, and reading. After spending a year with my family in South Africa, I administered a Ford/Mellon-funded technology training program for cultural heritage professionals there.

I teach courses on the American Civil War, public history, and history education.